A growing number of studies demonstrate a harmful interaction between drinking grapefruit juice and several prescription drugs, with certain effects potentially fatal.
Drinking Grapefruit Juice (Photo: New Beauty)
Drinking Grapefruit Juice Can Be Lethal
In an article published by Giant Freakin Robot, these problems are well-known enough that labels on several medications warn against eating grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice while taking the medication. The notion that drinking grapefruit juice could result in significant adverse effects may appear odd, yet the chemistry involved has been thoroughly studied.
While drinking grapefruit juice can be a healthy, vitamin-packed part of any diet, it poses a health risk not many people know about because it interacts with certain medications in negative ways. Chemical compounds within the juice called furanocoumarins have been shown by multiple studies to interfere with the uptake of certain drugs in the body. This interference can cause both the effects of a lack of the medication in the bloodstream and, perhaps more dangerously, the effects of an overdose.
Anti-anxiety medications, as well as pharmaceuticals for treating high blood pressure, cholesterol, and cancer, are among the medications whose efficacy can be harmed by drinking grapefruit juice.
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Side Effects of Drinking Grapefruit Juice
According to PolitiFact, the FDA stated that it “has no data to support the claim that eating grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice and antidepressant medication, when used as labeled and absent any other underlying medical issues, could potentially be fatal.”
According to a Harvard Medical School paper, drinking grapefruit juice inhibits an enzyme in the body, making it simpler for an oral drug to move from the gut to the bloodstream. Medication levels in the blood will rise faster and higher than usual, and in rare situations, excessively high levels might be harmful. Interactions with calcium channel blockers, which are not antidepressants, can, for example, cause high blood pressure or heart rate.
